Week 19

Okay, so one more quick post before I dive into payroll. Baby Ava has started to make her presence known to me. I can feel light little kicks every once in a while, but nothing strong enough for anyone else to feel. In a couple of weeks, she should be kicking hard enough for Jason and the boys to feel. We don't see the OB again until the 5th and our next ultrasound with the Perinatologist is on the 11th. Here's what's happening this week though...we're almost half way to our due date!

Your amazing little baby is now around 10 inches in length! If this seems a bit shocking, you’ll be relieved to know they’ve not actually grown over 3 inches, but that their little legs are now straight enough to be measured. This is when doctors begin measuring fetal growth from head to toe, (no longer “crown to rump” or CR). Lanugo (little hairs) covers their whole body now, trapping that charming cheese-like vernix caseosa (see week 18) to the surface to the skin. This week your lil’ fetus will start on an appetizing diet of amniotic fluid which they are now capable of swallowing, digesting, and passing the fluid as far as their tiny “large” intestines. Fortunately for you, this nice little lump of baby-poop won’t be coming out while they’re still in your womb. Some time shortly after they’re born, this fun lump will become the first in a long line of baby poops. (What finally comes out— commonly known as “meconium” to the science world, will be black and sticky, and you’ll be very glad it happens only once!)